Children of Ice
by Daughter of Christ 4ever
Summary: When Loki attempted a spell that would allow him to travel into the future, he never imagined that it would bind his soul to two humans. Tasked with stopping his future self, the Trickster must somehow unite with the humans he is bound to, as well as keep his other life a secret from his family. And should he fail, much worse than the Void awaits him...


**Children of Ice**

Prologue

Loki's heart pounded as he finished painting the final rune. Meddling with time was dangerous, Mother had warned him, and he knew that even experienced mages wouldn't dare try to do what he was planning. But what other choice did he have? His visions, as well as his strange shaking, were getting worse with each passing day. The wise choice would be to tell someone, but the little prince knew what Asgard already said about him, and had no desire to add fuel to _that_ particular fire. Besides, if Mother learned how frequently the shaking really took him, she would only worry more.

In the back of his mind, Loki recognized that this was a really bad idea. The second the rune network was activated, Heimdall would realize what he was doing, and would warn his parents. Then he would have to speed up the ritual if there was any chance of it working. But going faster could cause it to backfire rather spectacularly, and quite possibly kill him. _That's a risk I'm going to have to take,_ the boy decided grimly. _I can live with the visions no matter how dark they get, but as for the shaking… No. I_ _ **have**_ _to do this._ Taking a deep breath, Loki double-checked that all of the runes were written correctly, and summoned his magic. Then, before he could change his mind, he pushed it into the runic web.

Instantly, he could _feel_ Heimdall's eyes snap to him. A small smile danced on his lips as rune after rune lit up. But it disappeared as he became aware of Mother's presence approaching his chambers. The second his wards began to part, panic shot through him. The only way that they would do that was if she was actually coming in, and if she did, then all of his work would be ruined. Desperately, he silently urged his magic to go faster. Only half of the runes were lit, and he needed them all to!

Just as the door creaked open, an explosion of emerald fire tore through the room. Loki screamed as it rippled past him, and everything went black. Brief images flashed before his eyes- a gleaming city unlike any he had seen before burning as strange creatures flew from a hole in the sky, five oddly dressed people (at least he thought they were people, but then, one was some sort of green giant while another looked to be some sort of Dwarven invention) standing in a circle next to a much older looking Thor, and wild eyes that he thought might be his dancing madly as battle raged. In the background, he could hear a voice whispering, _Find them. Train them to be heroes, for they will be the key to stopping an evil you cannot even begin to comprehend, little prince._

"Who are they?" he cried. The five looked like Midgardians, that much he could say with certainty, but how was he supposed to find five people in an entire Realm? Especially since the inhabitants of that one died so easily. _It's like searching for a needle in a haystack_ , the boy thought sourly. To his surprise, however, the voice replied, _I will show you what to do when the time comes. But do not tell anyone what you have seen here today, understand?_

Loki had no intentions of doing that, thank you very much. He knew that Mother would know what he had been intending on doing as soon as she entered, and he would rather have her think that it hadn't worked. He still acknowledged what the voice was saying, though. He was a prince of Asgard, and would be act with the dignity his station required, even when dealing with disembodied voices.

 _Excellent,_ the voice breathed. _Now, you will be waking up soon and-_

"Wait!"

 _Yes?_

"If you are going to be instructing me, then may I at least have a name for you?"

The voice sounded highly amused as it murmured, _Very well. If you wish to have a name, then you may call me… Ævileifr._

"Time's Heir?"

 _It is good a name as any for the being without one of their own. Now, I believe that it is time for you to wake up, little Trickster._

Suddenly, he found himself lying on the cold stone floor of his chambers. Mother was kneeling next to him, and Loki had to resist the urge to explain everything at the look of disappointment on her face. Then he realized that his head hurt. But other than that, he felt fine. There was no dizziness or nausea, and he definitely didn't feel confused, or that another episode had happened. Silently thanking the Norns for some small mercies, he started to push himself up, only to have Mother gently push him back down.

"Mother, I feel fine," he protested. "Really, I do."

"You hit your _head_ , Loki, and thank the Norns that all you did was pass out," she snapped. Loki scowled, but didn't try to get up again. When the Queen got that tone of voice, it was far better to obey, as Thor had long since found out. Besides, the little prince had spent enough time in the Healer's Halls (both as a patient and as an apprentice of sorts) to know that she had a point. Head injuries were serious business, even for the advanced medicine of the Realm Eternal, and now that he thought about it, the floor did feel rather nice. _Maybe I should close my eyes for a bit, get some sleep,_ he mused. After all, he was rather tired all of a sudden…

When he opened his eyes again, Eir, the main Healer for the Royal Family was standing in front of him. She was frowning, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. Did he do something wrong?

"Loki. Do you know what happened?"

The boy gave her a confused look, and slowly shook his head. _Of course I don't,_ he wanted to say. _What kind of question is that, anyway?_

Eir sighed, and explained, "You had another episode. A rather bad one; it lasted five minutes, according to your mother."

 _Oh,_ was his only thought. Eir sighed again, but turned to Mother and began speaking softly, too quietly for him to hear. Then, Mother abruptly hissed, "Loki Odinson! You and I will be have words tomorrow, and so help me, you will explain what in the Nine Realms you were thinking!"

 _What? What did I do?_ He silently wailed. Then he belatedly remembered that Eir would have done a scan as soon as she saw him, and that his shaking would appear far more often than was reported. _I'm dead,_ he moaned. _Maybe I can throw myself into the Void; it would be far quicker and less painful than my demise at Mother's hands…_

The Queen watched silently as her youngest son was placed on a conjured stretcher. But to her shock, his magic began changing in front of her eyes. When Eir made no comment, however, she realized that it was only a vision. As strands of red and blue wove themselves into its usual emerald hue, Frigga pondered the significance of what she was seeing. According to some schools of thought, a person's magic could be seen as a representation of their soul, so more than one color meant that one or more souls had been bound together. And the new colors were so entwined with her son's vibrant green that she knew in her heart that this bond could never be broken, no matter what happened.

Another image appeared before her, this time of the ones Loki had somehow bound his soul to. A blond man in strangely colored garb slept in some kind of metal contraption as a young woman with fiery red hair fled from shadowy figures and a snow storm howled around her. In the middle of them stood Loki in his true form, head held high and a blade of ice in his hands.

"Oh, Loki," sighed Frigga. _Only you could find two people so similar to you, and bind their souls to yours,_ she reflected. _But perhaps your fellow children of ice can save you from the dark fate I have foreseen. Both for you… and the universe itself._


End file.
